Article 15: Can Catholics be Politicians?
From a Catholic position, would it ever be just, for instance, for America to bomb a target in order to kill a violent terrorist, knowing that there is a high probability of innocent civilian fatalities? From a strictly Catholic position, no it would not be just to do this. One can rationalize all they want about how doing so might save innocent American lives eventually or something like that. That may be true but it does not change the fact that the particular act was morally evil. From a Catholic perspective, one is never allowed to take an action which they know has a very high probability of killing innocent people if they have another option available. But what about from an American point of view? For instance, what if you were a President or a Senator who was charged with making decisions about taking America into Armed conflict? How would you evaluate this situation from an American perspective? The President and Congress are supposed to uphold the Constitution and protect this country and its citizens. But the American President and Congress are not required to avoid Moral evil; only the moral evil which is unconstitutional. So an American President, for instance, would take the action that he deemed was appropriate to save Americans, defend America, and protect the constitution. And if that meant the unfortunate death of innocent non-Americans along the way, it wouldn’t change the fact that the President may have acted in a way completely consistent with the responsbility of the Presidency. And now comes the problem. As an American President or member of Congress, you may well be able to do things that as a Catholic you may not. Namely, a Catholic never has a right to commit a moral evil, even if doing so may lead to some good consequence. And now comes the big question. Maybe a Catholic really can’t be a President? Not if the President is expected to be able to make decisions like the one outlined above. And maybe a Catholic really can’t be a Senator or Congressman for the same reasons? Maybe Catholics need to focus more on being Catholics, who live in America, than being Catholic Americans. Because it appears Catholics have gone to a tremendous amount of trouble to fit in as Americans. And maybe God never meant for us to fit in? Maybe God wanted us to retain elements of the Catholic Ghetto so to speak in order to perpetually call America to its best self? Maybe Catholics are meant to say to the rest of society, “you know, disrespecting God’s awesome gift of sexuality even once through contraception is morally evil and we shouldnt’ be doing it”. “And killing an unborn child, no matter how desperate your situation, is morally evil, and we shouldn’t be doing it”. “And executing a man, even a horrible man, if he is not directly threatening another person, is morally evil, and we shouldn’t be doing it”. “And using military tactics that lead to the deaths of innnocent lives, even if we get the bad guy, is morally evil and we shouldn’t be doing it”. Maybe Catholics should be saying these things to all of America? And maybe we should stop trying to figure out what party we belong to. As Catholics, we belong to the party of following Jesus and not committing moral evil. And neither American Political Party shares this fundamental view…..so their Party cannot be our Party. Very tough issue, for me, for all American Catholics. How do we remain faithful Catholics and yet honor and serve this wonderful country of ours? And based on the evidence of my own life, it is an issue I have yet to resolve for myself.
